The social media conglomerate’s move is a response to Ottawa’s Online News Act, which compels Meta to pay news outlets for posting their journalism on Facebook and Instagram.
The decision by regulators will prevent Facebook from transferring user data from the EU to America and may potentially force the U.S. to conclude a data protection agreement with Brussels.
The company has three months to comply, but Meta has announced its intention to appeal both on the merits and the fines. In its defence, Zuckerberg’s company argues that there is not enough “regulatory certainty” about data protection.
The Privacy Shield, struck down by the European Court of Justice in 2020, has now been replaced by a new data-sharing agreement between the U.S. and EU. How its implementation will ultimately fare, and whether it will arouse the scrutiny of European courts, remains to be seen.
Facebook gives itself the luxury of offering its “two minutes of hate” to its subscribers, telling them, in its great wisdom, which enemies are allowed.
